"In-house experience and substantial network were developed and to continue to innovate in such structures, and was able to broaden the investment universe based on experience and track record.

"In the wake of the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis, particularly during the second and third quantitative easing periods, uncertainty on the health of developed economies prevailed in persistently very low interest rates environment. There was a need for higher dividends and value style investing," he said.

The company aims to expand its range of Islamic funds to more than 15, raising assets under management on its Luxembourg fund platform to $1.6 billion by year-end.

According to Al Jabri, equity still dominates the overall allocation and the industry needs new asset classes like private equity, infrastructure, and liquidity products.

The Islamic investment industry needs a three-pronged approach to broaden the investor base, he said.

"The industry needs innovation and diversification, track record and performance as well as strong distribution and reach," he added.-TradeArabia News Service